When Will The Morning After Headache Arrive?

The 2016 Republican Presidential Primary and to a lesser extent the Democrat Primary have held lessons Barnum and Bailey would have been proud to have produced. Packed with outlandish and totally unsupported claims and proposals, the GOP primary has been a sad commentary on American’s gullibility, and the News media’s crass, mercenary culpability ( or should I say entertainment media). One of these days the music will stop, the candidates will return to everyday life, the Country will have a new President, and then the regrets will begin.

How could the Presidential contest have gotten so far without even the simplest assessments of each candidates’ proposed policies?

In Barnum and Bailey terms, Donald Trump’s campaign has been a classic. “Behind this door sits the strangest creature ever to walk the earth. For just 5 cents you can see this unbelievable sight”.

Day after day, news (entertainment) programs have worked hand in hand with Trump to lasso the public’s attention. Shamefully, the news media has not balanced this entertainment with objective reviews. Media criticism has dwelled instead upon crowd reaction, opposition group outrage, and rival candidates equally unsupported counter claims. Virtually no time has been spent asking how exactly Trump’s claims are supported by facts and how his proposals would improve the conditions Trump is railing against.

One is left with the sick feeling that news(entertainment) executives have seen the golden goose associated with a populous view of Trump. While the music is playing, let’s dance seems to be the media’s motto.

There is little question that Donald Trump has been a virtuoso in harnessing the media’s corporate greed and willingness to overlook news reporting ethics in order to capture large audiences and harvest the reward of bountiful ad revenues.

One might think that the day of reckoning is coming. Following the GOP convention which the media magnets hope will be a sh*t show, there will be time to reflect upon the platforms and proposed policies of the two standard bearers. Of course should Donald Trump become the nominee, he would be unlikely to want to suddenly go substantial and really discuss issues, causes, and solutions. Against Hillary Clinton, he will undoubtably use innuendos and extravagant claims while avoiding direct policy discussions. If the public responds, Trump’s unchecked statements are likely to continue to the delight of the media’s financial returns.

But there will be a day, at worst after the general election, when the champaign bubbles have died out that the news media will wake up and ask what has happened. Maybe they might ask what have we done?

The morphing of news from reliable information to entertainment has been a steady slow process. In part it is understandable. How else could adults be induced to waste time getting saturated with inane advertisements?

As a simple example, Bernie Sanders overarching theme is improving the lives of the middle class. He points to income inequality and proposes a minimum wage coupled with affordable healthcare (for all) and free (?) college education as the primary tools. Do economist agree and why?

Another example is Trumps claim that he will create a flood of jobs. He will accomplish this by building a wall between the US and Mexico while walking away from existing trade deals with other countries (read China). What do economist think will happen by restricting undocumented workers and what might happen to the overall economy if goods currently manufactured in low wage countries were now made in the USA? And breaking agreements, any repercussions?